The three of us are all in different states entirely right now for Thanksgiving break. It's lonely having to run without my friends to push me along. Luckily for me, I am at the lowest altitude so it felt a little bit easier to run today. At the same time though, I was a bit dehydrated and running off of only a few hours of sleep, because I spent twelve hours in the car yesterday, driving late into the night.
Before I hit the road I went to two classes. I was wearing my marathon t-shirt that I made a couple weeks ago. One of my teachers noticed it and asked if I had run one. I told him that I was training for one with a couple of friends. He looked so excited and his whole face lit up so I asked if he had run one before. He smiled and nodded and held up all five fingers from one hand. "You've run five?" I asked. He nodded again. I think he is my hero. He said the feeling you get when you finish is unlike anything you've ever experienced. I think talking to him made me at least six times more excited than I was before to run a marathon.
Last night I talked to Kal and suggested we make our four-mile run a race the following day. We would base it off of our times since we were all different places and couldn't physically run together. I needed a reason to push myself. It's harder to keep up a steady pace when you run by yourself, at least for me. I told Meesh about it and she said she was pretty sure she would lose, but she was willing to do it. Her course was a little over 4 miles so I said to get her mile pace and we would judge off of that. I was sure Kal would beat me, because years of cross country taught me how hard it is to beat a boy at running.
This morning when I woke up, I was excited to see that it was pouring rain. That is a typical Seattle day in the winter for you. I love running in rainstorms. There is something about the droplets running down my face and having my hair and shirt soaked through to the skin to the point that it sticks to you. It feels amazing. I geared up to go run with a bright yellow, water-repellant jacket and my Brooks running shoes. It didn't take long for me to get soaked, but I was flying up and down hills as I ran. The rain couldn't keep up with me. The front of me was soaked and my back was dry.
When I got back I texted Kal and Meesh. Meesh's mile pace was 9.33, Kal finished his four miles at 32.04, and I finished mine in 31.19 which is a mile pace of 7.48. I was so excited that I won the race! I don't know if I would have won at the altitude level we usually run at, but I was still proud of myself.
The second I walked in the door of my house, my sister said, "Did you get my text?" I hadn't had my phone with me. She explained that my dad was taking my mom to the ER. She had gone running at the same time as me and slipped while she was gone. When trying to avoid sinking her foot into a deep puddle, she stepped on the wet grass and took a fall onto her right elbow. It was dislocated. Later, my dad asked her if the pain was worse than child birth, and she said, "Actually, from what I remember, yes." She has to wear a cast for four to six weeks. I remember several times during my run looking at the wet leaves on the sidewalk and thinking, "Hmm, I really hope I don't slip on that stuff." Now I am REALLY glad I didn't slip on it.
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